Data published recently by Eurostat show that in the European Union in 2023, the standardised death rate for intentional self-harm was 10 per 100 000 inhabitants, with the rate for males 3.6 times as high as that for females.
This pattern was even more pronounced in Latvia where men had one of the highest rates of suicide and women had one of the lowest.
Across the EU countries, the highest standardised death rates for intentional self-harm in 2023 were recorded for Lithuania (19 per 100 000 inhabitants), Slovenia (16) and Hungary (16 per 100 000 inhabitants), followed by Estonia (14) and Latvia (14).
Cyprus (4 per 100 000 inhabitants), Greece (4 per 100 000 inhabitants), Malta (6 per 100 000 inhabitants) and Italy (6 per 100 000 inhabitants) were at the other end of the scale.
In all EU countries, the standardised death rate for intentional self-harm in 2023 was higher for males than for females, ranging from 2.4 times as high in the Netherlands to 8 times as high in Malta. The largest absolute difference was recorded in Lithuania, where the rate for females was 7 per 100 000 female inhabitants and the rate for males was 34 per 100 000 male inhabitants.
Latvia exhibits a similar pattern, with the rate for male suicide among the highest in the EU at 28 per 100 000 male inhabitants and the rate among women among the lowest at 3 per 100 000 female inhabitants.
More broadly, in 2023, there were 210 000 deaths in the EU resulting from mental and behavioural disorders, equivalent to 4.3% of all deaths. Relative to the population size, there were 41 deaths from mental and behavioural disorders per 100 000 inhabitants. For Latvia this figure was 32 deaths from mental and behavioural disorders per 100 000 inhabitants, up slightly on 2022's figure of 30 deaths.
Seen a mistake?
Select text and press Ctrl+Enter to send a suggested correction to the editor
Select text and press Report a mistake to send a suggested correction to the editor